An afternoon of puns and pies at Piefection

Between an unapologetically cheesy name and a list of pies ranging from the slightly gourmet to the downright indulgent, Piefection is a pie shop for our times. The logo itself, Greek-letter-turned-number pi, is a visual dad joke – if your dad teaches maths or is a fan of The Simpsons, that is.

Considering HITW’s love of puns and takeaway food, it’s surprising we haven’t covered Piefection already. Its first store, at Mt Gravatt, certainly qualifies as a hole in the wall. The newer Coorparoo shop is larger and feels like an old-fashioned carvery, right down to the hotboxes and plain concrete floor.

But enough about the decor; upon entering either shop, it’s clear that the pies take precedence. There are a few options designed to keep traditionalists happy – beef, chicken, cottage pie – and then things start to get interesting. From Thai coconut chicken with lychee to a mouth-watering butter chicken, there’s a definite Asian influence. For something with more of a kick to it, there’s the Bundaberg rum beef brisket, or the ‘big breakky’ – and remember, these are all pies. There are even Nutella and marshmallow dessert pies.

Why yes, this pie does have a battered lychee on top.

The danger of such a range is that you might end up paralysed by choice, standing and salivating, simply unable to decide. This is where the surroundings come back into play. One of Piefection’s slogans calls it the home of the “world famous Jack Daniel’s BBQ Pork Rib Pie.” From the moment you walk in, these words are hovering around you on signs and flyers, whether you realise it or not.

It’s effective marketing, but it’s also good advice. The Jack Daniel’s BBQ pork rib pie is quite simply one of the tastiest pies in Brisbane. The pastry is crisp enough to avoid the dangers of leakage when eating with your hands, but not too hard to bite into. The filling itself is sufficiently hearty to be a meal on its own and has the right ratio of meat to sauce – there’s no risk of these ribs being dry. The pie is so popular, it even has an evolutionary final form. The Ultimate Jack Daniel’s BBQ pork rib pie comes with a rib baked on top.

Each pie can be enhanced with mushy peas or mashed potato and gravy, but why settle for the standard fare? Any glutton knows the best accompaniment to a pie is a big serve of chips topped with pulled pork. These are similar to chips topped with gravy, if the gravy also contained solid meat. The pulled pork is tender, while the chips, like the box they come in, are of the uncomplicated, medium-sized, takeaway variety.

The only thing better than hot chips is hot chips topped with pulled pork.

All in all, Piefection manages to do something quite distinctive in Brisbane’s trend-heavy food scene. It combines high quality ingredients and an experienced chef with simple takeaway food without turning the food into something fussy, pretentious, or modish. Despite its originality, it doesn’t feel trendy. Over time, the pie flavours may change, but Piefection will be here to stay.